


Corrupted: Chapter 1

by CJ_writes_stuff



Series: Corrupted [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Panic Attacks, Some angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22825477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CJ_writes_stuff/pseuds/CJ_writes_stuff
Summary: Steven, after an intense argument with the other Crystal Gems, discovers strange things are happening to him. (I’m not sure about finishing this story, now that the series is over and we already know what happened.)
Series: Corrupted [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640962
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Corrupted: Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work here, so please tell me what you think and ask me anything in the comments!

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!  
An alarm clock blared through the silent house. 7:00 am. Time to get moving.  
A hand grabbed the phone that the alarm was set on and turned it off.  
“Just five more minutes…” he groaned, burying his face into the pillow. The tired 17-year-old didn't want to have to deal with the consequences of yesterday evening. He’d had another outburst, and this one was the worst yet. Other outbursts had resulted in cracks in the floor and walls, hurting someone, or even accidentally trapping them. Actually, they were all accidents.  
The night before, he’d gotten into an argument with his friends family. They wanted to help him. But couldn’t they see that he didn’t need any?  
“I’m fine,” he’d told them. And still, they’d scolded him for his outbursts that he couldn’t control. In a fury, he’d screamed at them to leave him alone, causing serious damage. It was worse than they’d ever seen. There was now a crater in the ground, and broken telephone poles and wires laid in the sand. There were cracks all the way down to Little Homeworld. It was all because of him. He had done all of this.  
“Steven? Are you awake?” Pearl called to him. He sighed, pushing the blankets off of his tired body.  
“Coming…” he groaned. He groggily got up, made his bed, and headed downstairs to make breakfast.  
He stopped, almost to the painting on the wall. Something didn’t feel right. Sure, the other Gems were there and they would definitely be talking to him. Everything appeared okay in the house. It was something about him that felt off. He moved his hand down to his naval area and grasped his gemstone. Yep, that was definitely the source of the problem.  
Advantages of being a human/Gem hybrid: cool powers, weapon, and maybe a longer life. Actually, he wasn’t sure about that last one.  
Disadvantages of being a hybrid: weird stuff happens to you. All the time.  
This had to be the weirdest.  
“Hey, guys.” he said, finally walking downstairs. The three (technically four) Gems were all seated around the table. When they spotted him, they all gave him weak smiles and pulled out a chair for him.  
“How are you feeling?” Garnet asked. Steven noticed that she didn’t have her star-shaped visor on, revealing three worried eyes. That’s weird for her.  
“Fine, I guess.” he sighed, knowing that it wasn’t true. “How about you guys?”  
“Well, we realized that we might have pushed you hard. We understand if you don’t want our help. It’s up to y—” Pearl stopped her apology suddenly and pointed to Steven’s cheek. “What’s that on your face?”  
“Hm?” He rubbed the spot where Pearl was gesturing. It felt rough to the touch, and sent an eerie chill down his spine. “Must be a rash or something.”  
“Do you want us to… help?” Pearl asked cautiously.  
“No, it’s fine. I’ll go take care of it.” he dismissed, walking into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and studied the dark pink, bruise-like mark on his cheek. He hadn’t seen it before. It must have gotten there overnight.  
He licked his finger and pressed it to the mark. Nothing happened. That’s when he started to panic. Why wasn’t it healing? That should have worked… so why didn’t it?  
Rummaging through the medicine cabinet, he grabbed a jar of tan cream and frantically applied it to the spot. He looked back in the mirror. Hardly visible. Good. But something still felt off…  
He exited the bathroom to find that the Gems had moved towards the door, except for Amethyst. He sighed.  
“Guys, please stop worrying about me. I’m fine.” He said bitterly. Pearl and Garnet stepped back to let him through as he passed them without another word. They exchanged worried glances before returning to the dining room table.  
“You gonna come eat this, dude?” Amethyst asked, gesturing to the plate of uneaten avocado toast and scrambled eggs as Steven began to walk out the front door. “’Cause if not, it’s going in my mouth.”  
“No, I’m good. I’m just gonna take a walk.” he sighed. “Thanks anyway.”  
“Well, you do need to eat.” Garnet pointed out.  
“Relax, Garnet. I’ll get donuts or something while I’m out.” he responded before slipping a pink varsity jacket over his shoulders. “See ya.”  
“Welp. More for me, I guess.” Amethyst smirked, then crammed Steven’s untouched breakfast into her mouth, much to Pearl’s disgust.

“Why did I do it? I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Steven asked himself, dragging his feet through the sand. He looked around at the small, damaged town. He didn’t want it to be his fault. He hated knowing that he had done all this damage. He sighed, before looking out at the ocean. “But it looks like I hurt everyone.”  
The inner turmoil raging within him only grew stronger as he steadily became more stressed. He touched the place on his cheek where he had covered the pink spot. Why had he hidden it? Surely it was because he didn’t want the Gems to worry. But deep inside him, he knew he was scared for himself.  
There had to be something more to this problem. Why, when he had tried to heal the supposed rash, didn’t it work? Something was clearly wrong.  
His anxiousness only increased as he unconsciously walked through the entrance to Little Homeworld. His hands wouldn’t stop fidgeting, and the beads of sweat rolling down his face were only increasing.  
“Steven!” A small, scratchy, high-pitched voice broke through his thoughts. Steven looked up, startled as the short green Gem grinned excitedly. “Hi!”  
“Oh, uh, h-hey Peridot.” Steven smiled nervously. “Is… everything okay?”  
“Huh? What do you mean?” Peridot cocked her head in confusion at his question.  
“Uh, do you even know what…” he paused. “Do you know what happened yesterday?”  
“Nope! Other than a few large cracks that came out of nowhere. But I’m sure it wasn’t anything we should be worried about. It’s not like you did any of this, am I right?” she joked, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.  
Steven could feel every muscle in his body tense up, and his face grew warm. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that it actually was because of him. Peridot tapped him on the shoulder. Her face had dropped from a playful smile to a worried frown.  
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, her voice shaky with concern. Steven looked down at his hands, remembering the events of the previous day, only to discover that they were glowing pink. He yelped and managed to shake off the destructive pink magic enveloping him.  
“I-it’s nothing,” he reassured, albeit rather uncomfortably. “I just have some things I need to get off my chest.”  
Peridot nodded, though unconvinced. “Okay… I guess.”  
“Just don’t worry about me, okay?” Steven told her, lightly rubbing his hand over the covered spot on his cheek. Peridot squinted at him and put a hand on her chin, noticing how suspicious he was acting.  
“Hmm… okay!” She grinned, giving him a thumbs-up. Steven paused and stared at her for a moment, a bit dumbfounded. He didn’t realize it would be that easy to get Peridot off of his case. He broke out of his confused trance long enough to speak to her again.  
“I’m gonna go now, sooo…” he said, motioning towards the human town of Beach City.  
“Okay, bye!” Peridot waved as he walked away. Once he was out of sight, her usually cheerful expression faded into a concerned frown. She walked further into the town, looking for help. “Lapis? Bismuth?”

Steven walked glumly on the boardwalk, which was now under repair. He frowned sadly at the sight of all this damage. He didn’t mean to… he didn’t mean to…  
He stumbled as the ground unexpectedly dipped beneath him. He regained his balance and looked at what he had stepped into.  
It was the crater. The crater that he had literally screamed into existence, his rage burning deep inside of him. He’d only seen this happen once before… at least on this scale.  
He suddenly gripped his gem, falling to his knees. He began to breathe heavily at a rapid pace, hyperventilating. He was having a panic attack. He clutched his head between his hands, not wanting to remember what happened. Not the day before, but 2 years ago. Not here, but on Homeworld.

-3 YEARS EARLIER-  
Steven slowly opened his eyes, a loud ringing in his ears. He could hear Connie’s panicked cries, her muffled voice getting louder as the ringing began to die away. He drew in a weak, shaky breath, looking up at her terrified face. A sharp pain in his stomach caused him to wince. With a shaking hand, he lifted his shirt to check his gem… but it wasn’t there. He rubbed his hand over the bare skin where the gem should be, fear creeping up his spine.  
“No. Where? Where- where’s my…?” he shuddered, realizing what had just happened.  
A pink glow engulfed the room, and the two frightened humans looked up at Steven’s gem as it began to reform. Steven watched in shock as the light began to take form, first in the shape of Pink Diamond, then Rose Quartz, and finally… himself.  
The pink-hued version of the young 14-year-old turned its head around to face the stunned duo with a blank stare. Nothing happened for a moment as the two halves looked fixedly at each other.  
The sickly, weak boy stepped away from Connie’s support and reached out to the pink Steven. He took one step before his quivering legs gave out from beneath him, causing him to fall flat on his stomach.  
“Steven!” Connie cried in concern for her dying friend. Steven gasped for air as he reached his shaking arm towards his other half, tears streaming down his cheeks.  
“No…! Please! I-I need...I need it…” he sobbed, pleading, his voice raspy and weak.  
“What is this?” White Diamond’s enraged voice cut through the quiet. “Where is Pink?!”  
“She’s gone.” the Pink Steven spoke in a monotone voice, his gaze never shifting from his other half. White only became more angry.  
“What did you say? Answer me!” she demanded. The Pink Steven turned his head to face her.  
“She’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!!!” he screamed in a fit of pure fury, a crater forming in the ground which caused White to stumble.  
Steven and Connie cowered, covering their ears because of the intense volume. Steven gripped the sides of his head tightly as if the scream were causing him pain. He trembled as the Pink Steven’s voice died away, the tone growing deeper as it echoed into nothing.  
The Pink Steven turned back towards the two and began to slowly walk towards the two, hovering above the crater, his feet level with the untouched floor.  
“Where do you think you’re going?” White demanded. The Pink Steven didn’t answer and continued to approach his other half.  
Steven groaned in pain, gasping for air and reaching out in a desperate panic. “Help…” he whimpered. Connie looked down at him, scared for her friend.  
“Steven, I got you!” she cried, scooping up his weak, trembling body. She began to walk to the Pink Steven, carrying the slowly dying boy in her arms and straining a little under his limp weight.  
“Don’t you dare take one more step!” White growled. They ignored her, continuing to walk towards each other. They wouldn’t stop now. Steven gripped Connie’s jacket as a last resort for comfort. He knew that if White got her way, he would die here. He glanced around Connie’s shoulder at the possessed Gems behind them. His family… they didn’t even know.

-PRESENT-  
“Hello.”  
A familiar voice snapped Steven out of his flashback. He looked around but could see nothing in his surroundings except a dark, somewhat menacing shade of pink.  
“Hello.” The voice spoke again, catching his attention once more. He looked in front of him to find his other half standing in front of him, bearing the same emotionless stare from 2 years prior. Steven gasped, falling into his back in shock.  
“Wh-what? Where-?” he sputtered before the Pink Steven held up his hand to silence him.  
“You are hurting,” he spoke in the same monotone voice from before. “I can help you.”  
“I…” Steven began before quickly changing his demeanor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said in stubborn defiance.  
The Pink Steven gave a sharp wave of his arm without averting his gaze, causing what looked like pieces of broken glass to appear in front of the two halves. As Steven looked at the glowing shapes, he noticed that his memories were projected onto them. As he looked closer, his expression grew from surprised to horrified.  
They were all from the past few days.  
The Pink Steven lowered his arm. He stared straight into his other half’s eyes.  
“You don’t want their help.” He said, not bothering to motion to the memories. He was getting his message across well enough.  
“Why are you doing this?” Steven asked, horrified. The Pink Steven didn’t even blink.  
“You don’t want their help.” He said again, robotically matching the previous tone. “You don’t want their help.”  
“No…” Steven whimpered, covering his ears.  
“You don’t want their help.”  
“Please…” Steven gripped his head, his hair clutched between his fists.  
“You don’t want their help.”  
“Don’t…”  
“You don’t want their help.”  
“Stop…”  
“You don’t want their help.”  
“Stop…”  
“You don’t want their help.”  
“STOP IT!!” Steven screamed, a pink glow enveloping his body. The Pink Steven stopped his repetitive taunting and took a single step back.  
“You need me. I can help you.” He offered, holding out his arm, wanting Steven to take his hand.  
“Well, this couldn’t possibly go any worse, right?” Steven sighed, the pink glow fading away. He reluctantly stood up and approached his other half.  
“Steven…”  
Steven reached out to take his other half’s hand.  
“Steven…”  
As soon as their fingers touched, a stinging pain entered Steven’s fingers. He reeled back before something, or someone, snapped him back to reality  
“Steven!” Lapis cried, grasping his shoulders. Steven looked around. He was back in Beach City.  
“Lapis…?” He blinked, dumbfounded. “Why- what are you doing here?”  
“Peridot came and got me! She said you were having some weird problems. When I went over to where you were, you were having a panic attack or something, and then you just looked up like there was someone there! I thought at first that you were just looking at the sky, but then I saw that your eyes…” she stopped, covering her mouth.  
“Wh-what about my eyes?”  
“They were… glowing.”  
“Glowing?” Steven repeated, surprised.  
“Yeah. They were glowing pink, and then you just started talking to someone. I went over there to make sure you were okay, but you didn’t even see me in front of you. If that wasn’t crazy enough, you stood up and started walking! I tried to catch your attention, but you couldn’t hear me. I had to slap you to snap you out of it!” Lapis concluded her story.  
“You…” Steven touched his cheek, now feeling the small sting from her slap. “Oh.”  
“Hey, what’s that on your face?” Lapis said, pointing to his left cheek. She drew her hand back in surprise as she shifted her gaze to another part of his face. “And what’s up with your eye?  
“Uh, what?” Steven asked, his face falling. Lapis used her hydrokinesis to bring a small amount of water over to them, flattening it into a mirror-like surface so that Steven could see his reflection clearly.  
Steven gasped as he found that the dark pink mark on his cheek had spread to the bridge of his nose and down to his chin. But what really freaked him out was his left eye.  
The iris had turned a shade of bright pink, which was odd, but his pupil caught his attention: it was diamond-shaped.  
“My eye…” he marveled, though in shock.  
“So, uh, are you gonna be okay?” Lapis asked, concerned for her friend.  
“Uh, y-yeah! I think it’ll be okay…!” He reassured, trying to get off of the topic.  
“Okay…” Lapis nodded, almost convinced. She extended her water wings. “See ya.” She waved as she flew back to Little Homeworld. Steven sighed and began to walk back to the temple.  
Deep down, he didn’t know if it was okay. He didn’t know what was happening to him, let alone why his Gem half was communicating with him and offering help. But maybe it would actually be fine.  
He at least hoped so.

**Author's Note:**

> That took a while... the next chapter will have more interaction between characters than what we got, so.... stay tuned I guess. :)


End file.
